


true belonging

by hanjt



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 13:52:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15268857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanjt/pseuds/hanjt
Summary: The Losers enjoy their day out of classes, yet Eddie doesn't seem happy. Richie decides to talk to him.





	true belonging

**Author's Note:**

> this is really messy and honestly i just wanted to write a short HP au. i hope you enjoy it.
> 
> houses the kids are in;  
> hufflepuff - eddie and ben.  
> slytherin - richie and bill.  
> ravenclaw - stan and mike.  
> gryffindor - bev.
> 
> they're 12-13 years old.

The walloping wind pushed kinky locks of hair out of Richie Tozier’s bespeckled face as he flew against the breeze, his emerald-coloured Quidditch robes whipping behind him. Eyes from the crowd eventually settled on Slytherin’s Seeker as he dove, right hand tightly wrapped around his broom, the other stretching ahead of him as the ground came closer.

Eddie Kaspbrak watched from his house’s stand, surrounded by golden cladded students, who weren’t as energetic as he. It was Gryffindor against Slytherin, and the houses that weren’t involved watched without that burning energy that the other houses did have. Though, this did not deter the small boy, and he shouted encouragingly for his friends that played in the game. Ben Hanscom, Eddie’s fellow Hufflepuff, cheered enthusiastically beside him, sticking his chubby arms in the air whenever one of their friends made a smart move in their respective positions.

And as they watched Richie take his difficult plummet towards the Golden Snitch, their yelling only grew louder.

Bill Denbrough’s eyes twinkled as he watched his teammate initiate the chase, with the opposition’s Seeker catching up. Bill caught his chance as he saw a bludger behind both of the chasers, and he suddenly shot off from where he’d been floating, readying his bat as it came into contact with the mad bludger. The magic ball spun from the impact, and crashed into Gryffindor’s Seeker, sending the girl off her broom. Luckily they weren’t too far from the ground.

Deep breaths wracked through Bill’s chest, and as he steadied himself, he caught the Keeper’s bright eyes from across the field. Beverly Marsh. She smiled at him, almost congratulating him, even though they were on different sides. Her short auburn hair was almost as red as her robes, and it framed her joyed face beautifully. Bill grinned back, looking behind him just in time to see Riche snatch up the Snitch.

The arena exploded with cheer and celebration as Richie skidded to a stop in the middle of the field, holding up the Golden Snitch between his pointer finger and thumb. He wore a prideful, shit-eating grin as he did so; his leather googles plastered to his face, shocks of hair sticking up in all positions.

Bill still wore his smile, yet rolled his eyes as his best friend showed off. Instead of joining his team in tackling Richie with excitement, he floated down to where he’d knocked off the other Seeker. He landed on the ground, extending a hand to the player, with a sincere apology falling from his lips. The girl smiled sheepishly as she allowed him to pull her up, and thanked him. He recognised her as Audra Phillips.

He then joined in with the Slytherin team, jumping and hugging each other in pure glee and adrenaline. They’d made it into the finals on top. They had an excellent chance at the Quidditch Cup, and considering it was only Bill and Richie’s first year of being able to play the game, it was a very lucky year for the second-years. Some students that play Quidditch for all six years they are on a Hogwarts team never make it to the Grand Final, let alone make it to finals on top.

But they’d done it.

 

* * *

 

 _“So, Believeeee that magic worrrrks! Don’t be afraid, of being hurtttt,”_ Richie crooned loudly, his prepubescent voice echoing throughout the mostly empty hallway. His square-framed glasses sat upon his nose, and his hair was still damp from the showers he, Bill, and Beverly had just returned from. They had free time for the rest of the day, and as of now they were making it to where their friend group hung out.

Richie had his arms slung across both of his friend’s necks, and they begrudgingly put up with his post-game high. The two occasionally chatted in between the intervals of Richie’s lines.

He continued to sing the Weird Sisters hit, only lowering his voice when they entered one of the courtyards within the castle. A fountain with a mystical creature upon its structure sat in the centre of the open area, indicating that they were in one of the less populated courtyards – this specific one was found on the west side of the ancient castle. Not as many students dwelled in this area, as it was furthest from most of the Common Rooms. It was the perfect spot for them; the Losers Club.

“Richie – _please_ shut up. Your singing is going to actually make my ears bleed.” Stan, who was rolling his eyes, instantly complained as the three stumbled up to their spot on the benches by the fountain.

“That’s nothing a little _Tergeo_ spell wouldn’t fix, Stanny m’ boy,” Richie said, his voice gripping the attention of the other Losers.

“ _Tergeo_ only clears up the dried blood of a wound. It’d take a lot more to fix the physical and permanent damage you’d do to my heari–” Stan had begun, his monotonous voice taking on an irritated edge.

“Gee, you can’t even let me bake in my after-game glow!” Richie dramatically announced.

Before Stan could snap back, Mike butted in with his friendly smile. “Congrats on the win you guys! I guess Ravenclaw doesn’t have any chance at the cup this year.” He playfully elbowed Stan, who was in the same house as he was in.

Stan only huffed.

“Yeah, you guys did great! And, uhm, you did wonderfully too, Bev – you got some nice blocks in there.” Ben said, fiddling with his fingers as he looked at the red head.

“Awe, thanks! I guess I didn’t get _enough_ blocks in. But it was a good match.” She nodded towards Bill, her bright smile stretching her features.

Bill smiled back. “Y-yeah. I can’t be-believe we made it this f-fa-far.”

“Eds! I haven’t heard anything from you yet. Did ya like my moves on the field?” Richie took his arms from Bev and Bill, and shoved his butt on the edge of the concrete bench, so he could sit next to Eddie.

The brunet looked over to Richie, his face neutral. “When you word it like that, no.”

“Ah, so does that mean you _did_ like my amazing skills? I’m flattered, Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie sighed, surpassing the urge to tell him “ _That’s not my name,”_ and instead turned his attention back onto the rest of the settled down group. His attention didn’t stay focussed for long, and he soon spaced out.

Richie’s eyebrows lifted at Eddie’s sudden quiet, yet he let the Hufflepuff off this time. He also turned his attention back to the group, and seconds later, was adding to the conversation in one of his shabby Voices.

 

* * *

 

It was after dinner that Richie decided to pull Eddie aside.

He had noticed Eddie’s strange behaviour over the course of the day. It wasn’t just during their normal hang out that Eddie had necessarily lacked in conversation and interaction, but at dinner too. Ben had discreetly told him how Eddie had been deadly-quiet at the Hufflepuff’s table as their houses filed out of the Dining Hall. Even without Ben’s input, Richie had seen how down in the dumps his boy had been from a few tables across.

They were at the intersection of corridors where their houses split up, and Richie had woven his way between the stream of children to find Eddie’s hand and drag him down an opposing hallway.

Richie pulled him along silently, aware that teachers that could appear around any corner. Eddie gave no protest.

When he finally thought they were too far to be heard or found in the seemingly random hall, Richie let go of Eddie’s small hand. They’d stopped in front of a decorated window, and some of the patterns fell onto Eddie’s pale face as he looked up at Richie.

A crease pinched his brown eyebrows, and Eddie opened his mouth.

“Why’d you drag me here when we’re meant to be going to our Common Rooms, Richie?” His voice was tired, slower than usual.

Richie scratched the back of his head, eyes shooting sidewards, taking in some of the moonlight, before returning to Eddie’s admittedly cute face.

“Are you okay, Eds? You’ve seemed pretty off today.” He started, seriousness stretching his face.

Eddie’s eyebrows creased further, and on any other day Richie may have thought that his friend was about to snap at him, but instead he crumbled.

His doe eyes fell to their feet and his hands tangled in the large robes that encased his frame.

“It’s nothing much, really. I think we should go to bed before we get into trouble.” Eddie tightly spoke. Tears balanced on the rims of his eyes.

 _He’s got it really bad today,_ Richie thought as he glanced down with sympathy. He approximately didn’t speak for another twenty seconds.

“Is it your mum again?”

“I – yeah.” Eddie gulped, trying with every fibre of his being to not let that wetness spill. He shook his head. “She–”

Eddie stopped himself, chewing on his bottom lip out of habit. He looked up to Richie – asking for permission to vent through his eyes.

Richie’s expression softened enormously.

“Come on, spit it out, Eds.” He said with no real fire.

Eddie looked down again, but continued with a small voice. “She is threatening to take me out of Hogwarts, Rich.”

This alone sends the tears spilling down his specked cheeks, and it’s like a floodgate has been opened. There’s no closing it so soon.

“She doesn’t want me to be a wizard. She doesn’t want me to be associated with the wizarding world. She just wants to be selfish, she wants me to be with her so she can _‘take care of me.’_ T-to her I’m already a freak, but she thinks she can still ‘save’ me.”

And with that final syllable spilling from his word-vomit, Richie places his hands against Eddie’s shoulders with a care he’d use with no one else. He takes a step closer, and concern is hidden in his expression as he looks down to Eddie.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with that. It isn’t fair that you haven’t got her support, and if you ask me, that’s called shitty parenting right there.” One of Richie’s hands moves from his shoulder to his chest, and he can feel Eddie’s breathing stutter beneath it. Richie realizes that his sentences don’t sound overtly comforting, and quickly continues on.

“Just know that… that your family will always be here. And by family, I – I mean us. The Losers. We’re always gonna be together, and I know we’ve only known each other for little over a year, but I – I feel it.” Richie is rarely serious, yet he stands before the boy he thinks he likes _a lot,_ and acts beyond his age for once in his life. If only to make that smile Eds wears so well appear on his face.

“All of us would do everything in our power to keep you here with us.”

Eddie is attempting to stop his tears, because suddenly it’s all too much, and he places his face into the crook of Richie’s neck.

Richie is at first hesitant to wrap his arms around Eddie, but they find their way around his torso, squeezing the hysterical boy warmly. Eddie fits perfectly against Richie’s body, like two jigsaw pieces, and the vibrations of Eddie’s quiet sobs eventually slow.

“And if you ever doubt that we’re a family, just remember that Bev has pretty much adopted all our asses anyway.”

There’s another hitch that wracks throughout Eddie, but this time it’s in good humour. He tilts his wet face towards Richie’s, so that their noses are almost touching, but his face isn’t twisted with heart break anymore – it’s a smile. A true, sincere, pure smile. Richie wants to keep that smile protected forever, wants to hold it close to his swelling heart for the rest of eternity.

Richie’s lips tugged upwards, his arms not budging from Eddie.

“… Shut up, Trashmouth. Is it okay if you walk me back to the Hufflepuff Common Room?” Eddie said quietly.

Richie grinned, his heart leaping. “Of course.”

They began walking back, hand in hand. It’s silence that sat between them, but it wasn’t a bad thing; they were usually talking, the loudest duo out of the Losers, but in that moment… the silence was _right_.

Eddie broke it when they neared his Common Room entrance.

“Thank you for everything, Richie.”

And then Eddie placed an innocent kiss upon Richie’s cheek, just below his glasses, and quickly left him in the centre of the hall way.

Richie’s eyes widened in a comical fashion, and as the last of Eddie’s robes flew from sight, he felt like his heart may just explode.


End file.
